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Fairfax County Public Schools could begin selling naming rights to athletic facilities as officials search for new revenue to address a growing maintenance backlog.

The Fairfax County School Board is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposal directing Superintendent Michelle Reid to develop a plan for negotiating sponsorship deals. If approved, Reid would have until July to present a formal framework that could place corporate or business names on football fields, basketball gyms and other facilities across the county.

At-large board member Kyle McDaniel and Mount Vernon District representative Mateo Dunne are leading the effort. McDaniel pointed to the school system’s $400 million maintenance backlog as the central reason for considering the change.

“Pursuing naming rights is a very common approach for public school systems to generate revenue targeted to facility maintenance and improvement,” McDaniel said. “It’s important that we pursue all available resources to help ensure our students and community members are in facilities that meet our expectations.”

Dunne said private-sector partnerships could provide additional investment at a time when FCPS infrastructure and renovation needs exceed available resources.

How much money the proposal might generate remains uncertain. SponsorUnited, a sponsorship intelligence platform, reported in November that companies spend nearly $900 million annually on naming rights across seven major U.S. professional sports leagues.

Professional stadium agreements offer examples at a much larger scale. In 2024, Herndon-based Northwest Federal Credit Union agreed to pay $8 million per year for naming rights to the Washington Commanders’ stadium in Landover, Maryland. Audi began paying $4 million annually in 2017 for its name to appear on D.C. United’s Major League Soccer stadium.

Any agreements involving high school—and potentially middle school—facilities would likely be far smaller. McDaniel and Dunne nevertheless argue that the additional money could help FCPS make progress on overdue maintenance.

FCPS has allocated about $13.5 million in operating funds for major maintenance projects in each of the past four years, according to its latest capital improvement program. The district devoted a total of $32.6 million to maintenance, repairs and infrastructure replacement during the fiscal year that began July 1, 2025.

Reid’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget includes $10.8 million for maintenance supplies, an increase of $1.5 million from the fiscal 2026 allocation. The increase is tied to higher contractual costs for essential repairs and maintenance at schools and centers.

The proposal also includes a $267.3 million school construction fund, with $13.5 million designated for building maintenance.